overnight
Americanadverb
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for or during the night.
to stay overnight.
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on or during the previous evening.
Preparations were made overnight.
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very quickly; suddenly.
New suburbs sprang up overnight.
adjective
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done, made, occurring, or continuing during the night.
an overnight stop; an overnight decision.
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staying for one night.
a group of overnight guests.
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designed to be used on a trip or for a journey lasting one night or only a few nights.
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intended for delivery on the next day.
overnight letters; an overnight package.
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valid for one night.
The corporal got an overnight pass.
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occurring suddenly or within a very short time.
a comedian who became an overnight sensation.
noun
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Informal. an overnight stay or trip.
Our daughter had an overnight at a friend's house.
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Informal. a permit for overnight absence, as from a college dormitory.
She had an overnight the night of the prom.
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the previous evening.
verb (used without object)
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overnights,
present (3rd person singular)
-
overnighted,
past participle, past
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overnighting
present participle
adverb
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for the duration of the night
we stopped overnight
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in or as if in the course of one night; suddenly
the situation changed overnight
adjective
-
done in, occurring in, or lasting the night
an overnight stop
-
staying for one night
overnight guests
-
lasting one night
an overnight trip
an overnight bank loan
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for use during a single night
overnight clothes
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occurring in or as if in the course of one night; sudden
an overnight victory
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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overnightsimple
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overnightssimple
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have overnightedperfect
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has overnightedperfect
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am overnightingprogressive
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are overnightingprogressive
-
is overnightingprogressive
-
have been overnightingperfect progressive
-
has been overnightingperfect progressive
Past
-
overnightedsimple
-
had overnightedperfect
-
was overnightingprogressive
-
were overnightingprogressive
-
had been overnightingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of overnight
Middle English word dating back to 1325–75; see origin at over-, night
Explanation
When something happens overnight, it occurs during the hours of one night. An overnight party can also be called a sleepover or a slumber party. (Pack your sleeping bag, but you probably won't use it.) You can use overnight as an adverb or adjective literally meaning "during the night" — like an overnight airplane flight or a guest who stays overnight on your couch. You can also use it figuratively, to mean "quickly" or "instant." After you publish your first book, you may be an overnight success; and after an important election, the world may seem to change overnight.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Higher prices can bring some of that idle capacity back faster than anyone can build a mine, though not overnight.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
Another drone scare overnight Tuesday illustrates that Europe’s military sites and critical infrastructure need better air defenses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
The stress of the kitchen didn’t make Tony a better man overnight.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Flights to the airport were temporarily disrupted overnight.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
I don’t know what I’d expected, but the world certainly hadn’t been kicked out of its orbit overnight.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
Nobody imagined using Wi-Fi to livestream Thursday Night Football from a multinational tech conglomerate that also overnights toilet paper and garden gnomes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026
Stays at Swiss five-star hotels make up around 8% of all overnights, but the guests in them contribute at least 25% of Switzerland's total revenue from tourism.
From BBC ● Mar. 2, 2025
“As the heat builds day by day there will be little relief during the overnights, especially within the Las Vegas valley and Death Valley National Park,” the warning said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2024
“I travel and camp in the backcountry year round and this includes overnights when the temperature dips to -20ºF,” she wrote via email.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 18, 2022
Grandma and Mother continued to work very hard to keep secrets about whether Papa really had left home forever or whether or not he was on one of his frequent overnights.
From "March Forward, Girl" by Melba Pattillo Beals
The pastries look as if they were overnighted from Paris, even as the signature breakfast sandwich — a biscuit with fried chicken, pimento cheese and hot honey — showcases Southern cuisine.
From New York Times ● Apr. 13, 2024
He said he paid extra to have it overnighted to his home.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 13, 2023
Of the affected voters, a lawyer for the county told the court that 585 had already been overnighted a ballot or had canceled their absentee ballot and voted early.
From Reuters ● Nov. 7, 2022
My sister overnighted me an oximeter so I could monitor my oxygen and heartbeat, and my oxygen level dipped to 90 but no lower.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2021
Afraid she wouldn’t be allowed on the plane, Fox phoned her father, who overnighted her passport.
From Washington Post
The men in separate canoes were returning to shore after overnighting on the lake’s Deer Island.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 5, 2023
Since then, he’s been a fixture in Madrona, overnighting on metal bus benches that were impossibly small for his big frame, then lugging his bags up and down the hills.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 22, 2023
But while overnighting there may be spiritually rewarding, it was physically demanding.
From New York Times ● Sep. 25, 2022
My friend’s mom notably wrangled our gang of overnighting 20-somethings with the imperturbable grace of a seasoned host.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 16, 2021
Sometimes he travelled closer to the city, overnighting in places like the Merri Creek reserve.
From Underground by Dreyfus, Suelette
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
